Name
The Sura taken its name from the word at takathur in the first verse.
Period of Revelation
Abu Hayyan and Shaukani say that this Sura
according to all commentators
is Makki
and this same is the well known view according to Iman Suyuti. However
there are some traditions
on the basis of which it is considered a Madani Sura
and they are as follows: Ibn Hatim has cited Abu Buraidah as saying that this Sura was
sent down concerning the two tribes
Bani Harithah and Bani al-Harth
of the Ansar. The two tribes had first recounted the glories and illustrious deeds of their
living men; then they had gone to the grave yard and bragged of the glorious deeds of
their dead. Thereupon the Divine Revelation Alhakum at takathur came down. But
if the practice of the Companions and their successors concerning the occasions of
revelation
is kept in view
this tradition is no argument to prove that Sura At Takathur was sent down on that very
occasion
but it shows that this Sura fully applied to the act of the two tribes. Imam Bukhari and
Ibn Jarir have cited this view of Hadrat Ubayy bin Ka'b: "We took the Holy Prophet"
saing: `If the son of Adam had two valley full of wealth
he would long for a third valley; the son of Adam's belly cannot be filled but by earth
to be from the Quran until Alhakum at takathur was sent down. This Hadith has been
regarded as an argument for Sura At-Takathur to be a Madani Sura on the ground that
Hadrat Ubayy had become a Muslim in Madinah. But Hadrat Ubayy's this statement
does not indicate in what sense the Companions regarded this saying of the Holy
Prophet (upon whom be peace) as belonging to the Quran. If it means that they
regarded it as a verse of the Quran
it cannot be acceptable
for a great majority of the Companions consisted of the men who were well aware of
each and every word of the Quran; they could not have the misunderstanding that the
Hadith was a verse of the Quran. And if its belonging to the Quran is taken to mean its
being derived from the Quran
the tradition can also mean that when the Companions who entered Islam in Madinah
heard this Sura for the first time from the Holy Prophet
they thought that it had been revealed just then
and then about the Holy Prophet's above saying they formed the idea that it was
derived from this very Sura. Ibn Jarir Tirmidhi
Ibn al Mundhir and other traditionists have related this view of Hadrat Ali: "We were in
doubt about the torment of the grave until Alhakum at takathur was sent down." This
view has been regarded as an argument for Sura At- Takathur to be Madani on the
ground that the torment of the grave was first mentioned at Madinah; no mention of it
was ever made at Makkah. But this is wrong. In the Makki Suras of the Quran
the torment of the grave has heen mentioned at many places so clearly that there can
he no room for any such doubt; for example
see Al- An'am: 93
An-Nahl: 28
Al-Muminun: 99-100
Al-Mu'min: 45-46
which are all Makki Suras. Therefore
if anything is proved by Hadrat Ali's saying
it is that Sura At-Takathur had been revealed before the revelation of the above
mentioned Makki Suras and its revelation had removed the Companions doubt about
the torment of the grave. That is why
in spite of these traditions
a great majority of the commentators are agreed that this Sura is Makki. In our opinion
this is not only a Makki Sura but in view of its contents and style it is one of the earliest
Suras to be revealed at Makkah. Theme and Subject Matter In it the people have been
warned of the evil consequences of world worship because of which they spend their
lives in acquiring more and more oF worldly wealth
material benefits and pleasures
and position and power
till death
and in vying with one another and bragging and boasting about their acquisitions. This
one pursuit has so occupied them that they are left with no time or opportunity for
pursuing the higher things in life. After warning the people of its evil end they have been
told us if to say: "These blessings which you are amassing and enjoying thoughtless
